Machining Projects: Book review

Machining Projects, David O. Averyt ISBN 13:978-1-59070-779-1 (10:1-59070-779-6) Goodheart-Wilcox Co 81/2 x 11 180 pgs.
iirc retail on this book is about $24 US. Shop on line for the best price.
Hi folks Tin decided to buy another book and look it over for the benefit of the shop and review it for the benefit of this forum.
This book was published in 2007 so not brand new off the press but current . A check for online reviews came up empty.
This is a workbook designed for a basic trade school or hands on engineering machine shop course. The first few pages are an introduction and guide of how to use the book, a couple pages on safety and then 10 pages of handy reference charts and table with a bit of math formulas thrown in for good measure. I like the idea of the appendix reference material in the front t of the book instead of hidden in the back. There are 44 projects in the book ranging from gee- wiz learn this machine operation and toss the part when you are done, to a small oscillating steam engine.In between there are a number of useful items of tooling that would enhance a beginners or most any shop. Tap wrench machinist jack gravity center punch deburring tool, Morse taper drill drift. r-8 mill holder, center drill chuck etc. etc. All in all pretty much what I would expect for such a workbook.
Now keep in mine old Tin was not always machining there was some graphic arts training way back when. so rant ON the cover is well done. simple photo of machined projects on a bright red background . Above is the title of the book and the name of the Author. But remember the old adage "You can not judge a book by it's cover."? there are three nice projects on the cover of this book that I have not noticed or seen inside the book a "C"clamp. a set of 1-2-3- blocks and a nice set of trammels. The other thing that gets my goat is the photos that introduce the sections do not match the section material. Section 1 is bench work the intro photo is the steam engine from the last section of the book. section 2 is lathe that has the picture of the "c" clamp that in my option is more of a mill project and like I said have not seen it yet.Section 3 is vertical mill picture of a jack made on the lathe. A pet peeve of mine is books that are poorly illustrated and the graphics detract from the narrative rather than reinforce the material. Rant OFF
All in all I think this book does what it was intended for. And if you are new to this hobby and are looking for plans for basic tools and a basic engine this could be the book you are looking for.
Hope you enjoyed the read
Tin

I just looked online trying find a copy of this book, and prices start at $168 (June of 2024) and quickly go into the thousands of dollars!!!

WisJim said:

I just looked online trying find a copy of this book, and prices start at $168 (June of 2024) and quickly go into the thousands of dollars!!!

Click to expand...

I chekt and the only one I found was 5000USD. Absurd.

I think this can only be algorithm-driven by supply and demand.
Most sites (all ?) show this book out of stock, so perhaps the algorithm is programmed to jack the price up as copies vanish across the internet.

Here is the same advert with a comment prior to the agorithm sending the price off into deep space.

Perhaps this settles the debate about where inflation is headed though.

.

And apparently the algorithm is tied across multiple booksellers.
Sort of scary to be sure, unless of course you happen to have a spare carton of these books.

I guess I went into the wrong business.

Its almost at $7k on one site.
What a joke.

.

Who wants to calculate the rate of inflation on this ?

$24.00 in 2010

$6,842.52 in 2024

.
Edit:
I am going to go check my book box to see if I have this book.
I could be unexpectedly rich tomorrow.

Edit02:
No dice, it appears I don't have that book, or if I do, I can't find it.

I think the book algorithm that book companies are using compares the number of books available for sale across the internet (no doubt in real time), and exponentially adjusts the price as the number available approaches zero, regardless of the rationality of that price.

Supply and demand in action.

Sort of like those mini-Wilton vices.

Edit03:
The book has lost all realativity for price/value.
It has become the "Mona Lisa" of hobby machinist books.
Much like toilet paper during the height of COVID.
.

How about a copy of a copy of a copy...

We seem to be moving into sort of a dystopian period in this country, in some respects.

These automated computer programs are part of the problem.
No doubt the stock market is filled with automated buy/sell algorithms.

Sort of makes one wonder just how odd things will get in the next 5-10 years.
Perhaps I should be buying up out-of-print books, to get ready for the gold rush.

I am still scatching my head over what was a $24.00 book.
.

I saw a discussion of eBay prices on various items that sold at absurdly high prices and it was suggested that this was part of a money laundering scheme, somehow. But some of the booksellers offering this book at ridiculous prices seem to be legitimate, in business for years, and offering a wide range of books over a wide range of prices, and getting lots of good reviews, so I have no idea of what drives the asking price for something like this. On the other hand, at least one of the reviews of the book suggests that it is actually in use as a textbook in schools and that would mean that there are a lot of used copies in various conditions, out there somewhere.
I did find it on "archives.org" where you can borrow it for an hour at a time, after setting up an account on the website. The book seems to have dark grey print on light grey pages so it is very hard for me to read. Without an account, I think you will only see a few sample pages.
https://archive.org/details/machiningproject0000aver/mode/2up?view=theater

Guys, I have copies of copies of copies of all 180 pages. I tried to attach a compressed file to my last post, but apparently it did not work. It is a .rar file. Are there any limitations on file size or type for posting here?

Anything posted here can't violate copyright laws, per forum rules, so be sure before you consider sharing.
The fines for copyright violations are rather high, so we all need to stay out of potential trouble in that respect.

.

GreenTwin said:

I think this can only be algorithm-driven by supply and demand.
Most sites (all ?) show this book out of stock, so perhaps the algorithm is programmed to jack the price up as copies vanish across the internet.

Click to expand...

You're correct.
If you want a deep dive into how pricing algorithms based on dogma about the statistical properties of markets break down, and you've got a few minutes to spare, watch this:
The case study is also an obscure book, so it's fairly relevant.

Bought this for a plane
flight....Don't fly for a few days....struggling not to read it...

The price is right, but the reviews on Amazon seem to indicate that many thought it would be a more in-depth book.

.

GreenTwin said:

The price is right, but the reviews on Amazon seem to indicate that many thought it would be a more in-depth book.

.

Click to expand...

The small bits I have read thus far, have been great learning for a newbie like me!

GreenTwin said:

We seem to be moving into sort of a dystopian period in this country, in some respects.

These automated computer programs are part of the problem.
No doubt the stock market is filled with automated buy/sell algorithms.

Sort of makes one wonder just how odd things will get in the next 5-10 years.
Perhaps I should be buying up out-of-print books, to get ready for the gold rush.

I am still scatching my head over what was a $24.00 book.
.

Click to expand...

The problem is, just like Taylor Swift seats for $5000, there are still people that will buy them, maybe not at $6800 but well over the original $24

I see that there's a copy of the Machining Projects book on eBay at the moment for under $200, still an absurd price. I imagine that somewhere there are stacks of this book, in well used condition, left from when high schools or tech schools still taught hands-on machine shop classes. Probably many have gone the way of old textbooks, thrown in a dumpster, when a class was dropped or a new text was adopted.

WisJim said:

I see that there's a copy of the Machining Projects book on eBay at the moment for under $200, still an absurd price. I imagine that somewhere there are stacks of this book, in well used condition, left from when high schools or tech schools still taught hands-on machine shop classes. Probably many have gone the way of old textbooks, thrown in a dumpster, when a class was dropped or a new text was adopted.

Click to expand...

Found the same listing:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/226297717807?_nkw=1590707796&epid=66612999&itmmeta=01J6FC9VXZKRPR0J6B96N6QJF1&hash=item34b065242f:g:gp8AAOSwb7dmv5km&itmprp=enc:AQAJAAAA0HoV3kP08IDx+KZ9MfhVJKklL3m8Z4EjGB7HBJO3eGCBWy1eIIM+FUxAmIOWby5j1VzahgMk4HwFmJ7j6RavIN41L2V3XM+yoRD8efToX8m/vfFdSJxgi/IgEWIgP6L3PqnASkYdNzWA69Uo5I3BL37YEvhzWWCK/qiTIucNE7WavqhQWO+FD6uP5bSgktxTarijOFkqT33Ywcrd/xgKpADylhitcuD8eEZCYzddIAf0ewebLuqDgUteqyZtWmruXVI09EKtdeNriLbSAITjyWQ=|tkp:Bk9SR4K_p-yzZA&LH_BIN=1

All of the used book sources list the same alternatives of just under $5,000, including this one that had a link to the eBay listing.

The Internet Archive has it available for 1 hour borrowing, but the quality of the scan is pretty poor (this is just the frontispiece, which is available without borrowing; it gives you an idea of what you can get for free):



I borrowed & skimmed the full contents: definitely not worth $5,000, and IMHO not even the $170 on eBay.

You would do much better going for George Thomas's The Model Engineers Workshop Manual, available from Tee Publishing in the UK and also in various conditions from Amazon:


I'm guessing that the New copy on Amazon is from a reseller in the UK who can deliver slightly lower than Tee or has purchased a number of copies for resale in the U.S. (shipping direct from Tee was £14.95 in 2022, so ~$61 total).

I got my copy of George Thomas's The Model Engineers Workshop Manual on Amazon for less than $55, including tax and shipping, a year ago in June, from the seller in England mentioned above by ChazzC. It took awhile to get here from Britain, but not as long as I had expected. Strangely though, Amazon never showed it as being delivered, and the seller offered to resend it, but I messaged him and told him that it had arrived in fine condition. Amazon still thinks I never got the book.